The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-08-15

But there she was, five feet five, not bit
OF STOPPING to her round, supple figure. black
haired, and jewelled eyed, and damask-
skinned, ana smiling with a dimpe, and
walking with spring as If the earth were
something elastic, and the more our friends
used to admire her and like to be with her
the more sure we were that it was nonsense
ana make,belieye, and bore to them, and
~ annoyed US beyond measure anyway. And
TINS annoyance was particularly poignant
| when Mr.. PoindeXter began to frequent our
mouse. For everybody knew that Prim ana
IRIS were exceedingly pretty girls, and that
was rather bright, you know and he came
70 see us; and the moment he laid his eyes
on mamma, sitting by the fire with book In
ner hand, and rising to meet him IKE
queen, extending that long, sculptureSque,
bare hand of hers-mamma never wore
rings; her hand was too fine for that-then
he never had five words more for any OF us
that day. Sometimes, on otner days after
| that, when mamma was keeping us In the
background this way, Iris would shrug her
| shoulders, or even Prim would raise her eye
| brows at me, when mamma held the CONVEX
sation over our heads, and once l ventured
some rather sarcastic piece of my mind on
the subject. ''Susette," said mamma, you
have not yet prepared your history lesson.
Pray go up stairs and do so at once Just
as il were in pinafores! felt it a regular
went. suppose might have made fuss
| but knew better than to have scene. And
then the fact is that all the fuss in the world
would really have made no difference. Mann
| ma might be as young as the youngest of us,
| but we had to obey when she said so; and
Prim liked it.
Well, one day, after this thing had gone on
| for some time, Mr.. Poindexter happened to
meet Prim and me out walking. 1t was just
| the lovely walking weather which comes in
| the middle of a well conducted spring. At
| ter the salutation he asked why Miss Iris
| was not the third that day, as in all classic
| q it,
| mines.
'Oh," answered, "she is with mamma
to,day-doing the family charity"
II beg your pardon?" he said
| Making visits, you know, on our poor
| people and in the hospitals. Mamma has
done it since time began, and thinks it part
| of our education"
| ''Oh, indeed. And she spends much time
| that way?" he asked
"We take turns with mamma every other
morning. Thursday is our flower mission
day. 1t is my turn Thursday"
what lovely lifer' he said. Zone
makes sort of expiration in that way for
having more than ones equity in this
| worlds blessings, as we phrase it. What
| lovely nature that finds its pleasure in such
work., And then was sure it was Iris to
whom Mr.. Poindexter was attracted.
He went on with us a little way; and as |
looked up at his serious proud face and saw
| anew his lofty stature and bearing | could
not help admiring him little on my own ac-
count, and wishing it had been who had
| been out with mamma that morning and had
| been found on the angelic business. But
| then, i reflected, if / had been L should not
| have had the present bliss Of being in his So
eiety ana making my poor little mark. And
l reflected, too, how mamma would have de
spsed me if she could have known my state
of mind. And Jet / knew very well that
was not in the least affected by any personal
power of Mr.. Poindexter; it was the power
OF his bank account, of his account, of his
position, of his house in town, of Poindexter
Place, that move me, and that confess
But just as was going on in this way in
my thoughts, we were-erossing King street.
on the separate fi2g-stones side by side, and |
Mr.. Poindexter's head was bent to hear |
what Prim was saying, and / was looking at |
them, and all in heartbeat, as you may |
say, and before we heard sound, two huge |
horses heads were rearing over our Shout
ders, and four great shining fore-fcet were |
paving the air, and Prim had slipped and |
fallen and was under them.
| never admired anyone so much in all my |
life although was too frightened to know
it--as did Mr.. Poindexter at that moment,
when, with his figure flung to his full height
and his face white and fixed, he grasped
those horses by the brides and held them
and forced them back with perfectly gigan-
tic strength. before the driver checked them
too, while some ono=I' m sure | don't know
who-pulled Prim, who had tainted, out of
the way, and was screaming at the top of
my voice. Then Mr.. Poindexter called
coach and drove home with us, it seemed to
me, while was crying over Prim, as fast as
the wind blows over the top of Mt. Wash
ington.
But fast as we Drove the news of what
had happened was before us, and mamma
was rushing to the door; she was awfullv |
fond of Prim, and never made any secret of
it; Prim was her comfort and her darling.
And when Prim, pale and teary, had flung
herself into mammals arms, and mamma had
exclaimed and kissed her and cried over her |
as If there wasn't another person in the
world, suddenly she tore herself away, the |
tears still pouring over her flushed face, her |
eyes all suffused with them till they looked |
like melted sapphires, and ran to Mr.. Poin- |
dexter and seized his hand in both hers. |
"Oh," she cried, "you have saved to me the |
dearest thing have! How can l ever thank |
| youp
81 know way Mr.. Poindexter muir
INJURED, and so low that guessed rather than
| heard what he said.
"Ahal" thought / to myself, as helped
| Prim, who was considerably torn and SOiled
| as to her garments, from the room, "nOw
am absolutely sure he is going to ask mamma
| for Prim. 1t won't make much odds about |
her new spring suits being ruined by those
hoofs; therelI be wedding garments pres
emily. Well, don't care. / shall have Just |
as good times in Poindexter Place as If it |
were mine; and I've no doubt that some Of |
the Poindexter sp.endor will overflow on me
from Prim's pin-money." And as after |
ward, looking from the window saw man. |
ma and Mr.. Poindexter pacing up and down |
| the little garden place where the grass was |
| just greening and the crocusses blooming |
| out, made no doubt that he was arranging |
with her the settlements to be made on Prm; |
| all the surer when, as he was going away, |
| he took off his hat and bent as Sir Lancelot |
might have done, and kissed that white
| hand of hers.
"That settles it," said l, "And Pm sure
| I'm relieved Prim, on the whole, that it's |
not who have to play Ahasuerus. And l
must say think you'll do credit to your po-
ci unut ra nnh ffxy 10 hfr,frl
| with your black hair and long eyelasnes,
and you'll be so like lady of romance in
your big house and your big carriage, and in 1
your evening toilettes just a-glitter with dia-
monds."
...oh, that--that isn't the way to look at
it." cried Prim. "I-Im afraid we're very
mercenary for young girls
1--WE have to be-" said Iris. 'Papa's
come SO much more costly, is just next to
nothing, and I'm tired into my soul of turn
ing dresses and retrimming hats"
For al that" said Prim, 1T isn't pleas
ant to think you're really, after all is said,
doing no more than fixing a price on your
self And-and the tact is, he's very splen-
did and all that, but l don't see how anyone
can be in love with Mr.. Poindexterr."
81 don't know" said Iris, hesitating.
"Well," said /, ''as / said before, that's be-
cause we never are able even to get acquaint-
ed with him. How can people be in love
with person when they're not acquainted:
anu INV odh tncy Bob dcQudllttu Will u ptI- |
son when the fond mamma is always in the |
foreground, talking Greek choruses, OF Ger |
man music, or early English art should |
like to know? The moment that anyone |
gets talking To us freely, and we're going on
about the other girls, or the favorite actor,
or which opera we like BEST or the last fash
ion, and singing snatches of the Gilbert and
Sullivan and Offenbach things, in gides
mamma, like the queen of hearts after the
tarts, and presently the conversation is all
upon the Browning plane. or the humanities,
or politics, and we're no better than dunn
miles,"
What are the humanities, Sue?"
"Pshaw!'
well, do WONDER said Prm, "what |
made mamma so very brilliant, and us such |
ounces"
you're not, Prim. You're awfully en-
gaging, you know you are said Iris. And |
as for us-who mamma just absorbed it all |
herself. 1t is queer; she doesn't even say,
the way Mrs. Freeman does, that she will |
not be thrust aside by ill-mannered young
girls with no experience of the world, and |
nothing but compilations; it never enters her |
head that she could be thrust aside: she just |
treats us as if it never occurred to her, and |
couldn't to anyone else that we were of any
consequence when she was to be seen, ex- |